A logical approach for geo-coding and minimizing noise in the spatial data of public bus services in urban areas

Abstract

A more efficient public transit system means better accessibility and higher opportunities for better economy. To enhance the operation or to provide a better transit service, it is essential to draw a clear picture of the baseline conditions to identify the pros and cons of the existing service. Developing a quantitative spatial database of the service characteristics is deemed necessary for detailed analyses of existing services. Spatial database may help in understanding the geographical extent of the services and identifying the areas that may need special considerations to enhance the services. In this paper, a logical approach is presented to geo-code the spatial data of the public bus services; namely, the stoppage and routes maps (layers). The used geo-data data to develop the bus stops and routes' layers have significant noises. The adopted methodology to filter such noise in data and to develop the spatial database is presented in details. Analyses and conclusions were presented using the presented GIS spatial data techniques. © 2011 WIT Press.